ROCKFORD — After canceling Friday’s football game against undefeated Boylan because too many Jefferson seniors were skipping practice, J-Hawk officials didn’t get the response they wanted this week.

They didn’t even get a reason.

So they canceled the rest of the season at 4 p.m. Tuesday, forfeiting their last two varsity games against Harlem and Belvidere North.

“I don’t know exactly what happened,” second-year coach Patrick “Bucky” Babcock said. “I’m still trying to put my finger on why. I tried talking to the seniors today about why this thing turned out the way it did and I am really struggling to get much of a word out of them. I just want to find out why. If they weren’t motivated or were tired of losing or what it is.”

Jefferson, which will finish 0-9, hasn’t had a winning season since it last made the playoffs 20 years ago and has two or fewer wins 15 of the past 20 years. But the J-Hawks never forfeited a game before. No NIC-10 team is believed to have forfeited a football game before for a reason other than a teacher’s strike.

“Everybody was hoping the kids would respond and recommit,” District 205 athletic director Mat Parker said. “Some did, but not enough.”

“We are doing everything we can to give good coaches the opportunity to build a program the right way,” Jarrett said. “While it’s unfortunate that it came to this, the right steps were taken to communicate with the student athletes and their families. Ultimately, this was the best decision for Jefferson. Our coaches and administration at Jefferson are expecting students to do things the right way in terms of academically and attending practice.”

“All we are asking the kids to do,” Jefferson athletic director Todd Zimmerman said, “is show up every day.”

Jefferson officials warned players for three weeks before calling off the Boylan game.

“For the past four weeks, we have allowed kids to not come to every practice and still play on Fridays,” Zimmerman said. “That started trickling down to the lower levels. That’s not what we want our program to be. We want kids to be at every practice and work hard.”

Jefferson has only seven juniors on the team, but has been better at the lower levels. The sophomore team is 4-3 after beating Boylan last week and the freshmen are 2-5.

Page 2 of 2 - “This is the right decision,” Parker said. “It will have a positive effect in the long run and already has with some of this behavior trickling down to the sophomore team. Once the (Boylan) decision was made last week, they were all recommitted. They had a big win and were there the next day, all of them, for Saturday practice at 8 a.m.”

Zimmerman said he feels bad for the “10 to 12 seniors who have shown up for practice” and for Jefferson’s would-be opponents.

“I remember every game I played on Friday, and we’re taking that away not only from our kids but Harlem kids won’t play Friday and North kids won’t play next week,” Zimmerman said. “We’re taking a Friday night away from them, too. It definitely wasn’t an easy decision.”

Parker called ending the season three games early a life lesson.

“Part of our job is grooming productive young people,” Parker said. “If you work and don’t show up Monday through Wednesday and expect a bonus on the weekend, you are not going to have a job for long. This is part of the process. You commit to something and you stick with it, whether it’s going good or bad or you agree with your coaches or bosses. If you don’t, you can’t reap the reward.”